83 
Barbier Machine. 
This also did not appreciably differ from that shown at previous 
trials. It has already been described in the Kew Bulletin (188%, 
p. 276 ; 1889, p. 269), 
Subra Machine. 
This resembled in some respects the two preceding machines. But 
the beaters work continuously wi ithout reverse action, There was an 
hand. T y was, howe of opinion that the Subra machine, 
arep in the hands of pepali skilled orkaan would probably 
lead to serious accidents. It had, however, the advantage of removing 
the epidermis in great part as. well as the woody core from. the 
ribbons. 
Like the Faure, Ey Subra machine in the form now described has 
also been abandon 
Since 1891 the iei of treating the fresh stems of China grass by 
mechanical methods has engaged incessantly the attention of inventors. 
The results up to the present time are reviewed in the following pages. 
or convenience a general sammary is given in the first place of thefacts 
relating to the raw material. 
SOURCE OF MATERIAL, 
aps the most important advance has been in the complete 
abandonment of the attempts hitherto made to treat the dry stem 
This has been definitely acknowledged to have been a mistake, ex- 
perience having proved that to obtain the full advantage of the many 
valuable qualities of the fibre the stems must be treated in the green 
tate. 
The original China a so long cultivated by the Chinese under the 
name of Tchou Ma is Behmeria nivea, Hk. & Arn. The leaves in 
this are white-felted beiei. The plant is moderately hardy in tem- 
perate countries, and it grows well during the summer months in the 
South of England. During 1895 an exceptionally good crop was 
harvested in Kew froma small plot that had been established in the 
open ground for more than five years. An equally large crop is being 
produced this year (1898). The plants are, however, regularly eut 
down by the first frosts in October and do not sprout again until the 
middle or end of May. us only one crop is capable of being produced 
France, Algiers, the United States, and many parts of India. The 
plant is more readily propagated by division of the rhizome or rootstock 
than from se 
Ramie or Rhea i is probably ay a geographical variety of China grass, 
but from an economic point of view the differences between them are so 
important that the two plants hoari be kept pa distinct. The a 
r Rhea (B. tenacissima, Gaud.) is sometimes known as the gree: 
leaved China grass. This name has been elven it as the leaves are 
green on both surfaces. On this account it can be readily distinguished 
rom ordinary China grass in the field. In habit the plant is more 
robust and the stems under favourable conditions are larger and more 
and the neighbouring islands. Rhea is the 
Malay name for one and the-same plant. The Malay name is the one 
8895 F2 
